Identity Porn (Journaling January)
Jan. 18th, 2019 09:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kraitToday's Journaling January prompt from extrapenguin was Identity Porn
This is a trope that I really enjoy, and also find really difficult to describe. It's an umbrella kink that encompasses several different aspects of narrative play around the concept of identity.
The most general definition I can give is this: "Identity Porn" is a narrative examination of the tension caused by a character's efforts to conceal their identity in some way, or by uncertainty about their true identity. Stricter definitions might exclude the latter clause, but I feel that an identity "concealed" by outside interference from all parties can also meet the emotional and narrative beats of the Identity Porn trope.
Setup
Superheroes are the classic example, perhaps because of the double-whammy (a superhero passing as a regular person is in essence maintaining two concealed identities) but Identity Porn comes with lots of options. Spies, undercover detectives, clones, celebrities, military operatives, dethroned royalty, crossdressers, revenge seekers, amnesiacs, and time-travellers all get a slice of the Identity Porn pie! Identity is a complicated and very personal concept, so it makes sense that any kind of long-term manipulation of identity is going to pull a lot of emotional strings.
The attractions of the Identity Porn trope are similar to those for any other source of friction: the reader gets to enjoy - or feel anxious about - knowing something that other characters don't, being part of and invested in keeping a secret, feeling conflicted when the secret interferes with something else they want for the character (such as a relationship, emotional development, or situational outcome).
For me personally, Identity Porn is connected to several other tropes I enjoy:
Loyalty Kink or Trust Kink
For a character concealing their identity, the world is divided into people who don't know their secret, and people who do. There's a deep trust implied between the Identity Porn subject and those who know their secret, which makes for strong emotional bonds, and a heavy emotional impact when someone changes category, and a deep unease if that change is unintentional. Identity Porn often involves a conflict of loyalties centered around the awareness of dual identity, setting up sitations where the secret can become a two-edged sword, with someone's trust betrayed whether it's concealed or revealed.
Outsider POV
One of my favourite tropes/devices is stories told from the viewpoint of someone outside the main conflict, and Identity Porn often makes a good setup for this. It can be used to highlight the difficulty of concealing an identity, by showing the cracks in the facade, or the emotional effort and sacrifice involved in presenting a perfect front. Generally the reader knows more than the POV character, so the different conclusions they draw can be used to great effect for characterisation: what a character misses, or assumes, or fails to consider when trying to pull off a lie indicates a lot about their personality and state of mind.
Consent Issues
Along with questions of identity come questions of consent. This one's kind of the flip side of trust kink plus the porny side of outsider POV: if the character concealing their identity becomes involved with someone who doesn't know the secret, there's a lot to explore with regard to consent on the part of the outsider. So much, in fact, that there's a tag for it with 434 fics. :D
Canon Recs for Identity Porn
So you want some canons that deliver on the Identity Porn front? :D
Captive Prince
A fantasy/erotica trilogy by C.S. Pacat, Captive Prince and sequels started out as an online M/M novel. The main character, Damianos, is the Crown Prince of Akielos whose throne is usurped by his half-brother, who sends Damianos into slavery... in service to Prince Laurent of Vere, whose brother Damen killed in combat. Laurent hates Akielons, and has a burning desire for revenge against the man who killed his brother, so Damen not only has to figure out how to escape slavery and retake his throne, he also has to keep the Veretians around him from recognizing who he truly is.
Nirvana in Fire
A Chinese fantasy drama series (which I've talked about before!) involving a complicated justice-and-revenge plot. On the basis of a forged letter, the Emperor believed that his son Prince Qi has betrayed him and convinced his army to stage a revolt. The entire army is slaughtered, labelled traitors to the country, and buried by history. But one of Prince Qi's subordinates survives, and is determined to clear the names of his comrades. He takes on another identity and becomes the advisor of a disfavoured Prince who was close to Prince Qi, whom he's determined to put on the throne.
Kuragehime | Princess Jellyfish
A manga, (and later anime) centered around a women-only boardinghouse where all the residents are unsocial, nerdy types. The main character, Tsukimi, is obsessed with jellyfish, and by accident becomes friends with a "stylish" girl when she helps Tsukimi save a jellyfish from a pet store... Except the stylish girl is actually Kuranosuke, the illegitimate son of a wealthy politician, who cross-dresses as as way to avoid being pushed into politics! Kura is strangely drawn to Tsukimi and her weird friends, but since their boardinghouse doesn't allow men, he has to keep up the pretence of being female in order to befriend them.
(The anime is really cute! But the manga is even better, if only because it has more time to develop the characters and introduce some really great side characters.)
Fic Recs for Identity Porn
How about some fic? :D
* the best imitation of myself, by seventhstar. (Fandom: Yuri!!! on Ice) Victor wants to attend a skating convention without being pestered by fans, so he cosplays himself as a disguise. Yuuri, one of the cosplay contest judges, dates Victor believing that he's just another fan, not the genuine article.
* The Blind Leading, by SkyisGray. (Fandom: Avengers/MCU/Captain America) AU where SHIELD sometimes hires the Winter Soldier as an independent contractor; Steve only knows the Soldier as an occasional ally when they begin an affair.
* gather it all in a bunch of heather, by margaret_rose. (Fandom: Scarborough Fair) Meeting one's true love requires some drastic steps... Such as becoming somebody else entirely.
* as to which may be the true, by susiecarter. (Fandom: DC Comics|Batman|Superman) Superman dies, returns to life, and starts sleeping with Bruce Wayne... and that last thing might be the weirdest. It definitely would be, if he knew Bruce Wayne was Batman, the man who nearly killed him.
* All That You Need to Say, by kitsunealyc. (Fandom: Nirvana in Fire) In order to save Mei Changsu's life, Jingyan is sent back in time. Somehow he'll have to get close enough to his target to earn his trust, without giving himself away as Mei's former friend or letting Mei know that Jingyan knows his secret.
Memory, by emilyenrose. (Fandom: MCU|Avengers|Captain America) The Winter Soldier doesn't regain his memories of being Bucky Barnes, Steve's best friend. Steve and James, the former Winter Soldier, are coworkers just starting to become acquaintances. After a mission goes sideways, Steve and Barnes sort through their reactions to decide: are James and Bucky the same person?
So there you have it, lots of rambling about Identity Porn. :D If you have recs for other canons or fics, or thoughts on what makes this trope satisfying, please comment with them!
extrapenguin was Identity PornThis is a trope that I really enjoy, and also find really difficult to describe. It's an umbrella kink that encompasses several different aspects of narrative play around the concept of identity.
The most general definition I can give is this: "Identity Porn" is a narrative examination of the tension caused by a character's efforts to conceal their identity in some way, or by uncertainty about their true identity. Stricter definitions might exclude the latter clause, but I feel that an identity "concealed" by outside interference from all parties can also meet the emotional and narrative beats of the Identity Porn trope.
Setup
Superheroes are the classic example, perhaps because of the double-whammy (a superhero passing as a regular person is in essence maintaining two concealed identities) but Identity Porn comes with lots of options. Spies, undercover detectives, clones, celebrities, military operatives, dethroned royalty, crossdressers, revenge seekers, amnesiacs, and time-travellers all get a slice of the Identity Porn pie! Identity is a complicated and very personal concept, so it makes sense that any kind of long-term manipulation of identity is going to pull a lot of emotional strings.
The attractions of the Identity Porn trope are similar to those for any other source of friction: the reader gets to enjoy - or feel anxious about - knowing something that other characters don't, being part of and invested in keeping a secret, feeling conflicted when the secret interferes with something else they want for the character (such as a relationship, emotional development, or situational outcome).
For me personally, Identity Porn is connected to several other tropes I enjoy:
Loyalty Kink or Trust Kink
For a character concealing their identity, the world is divided into people who don't know their secret, and people who do. There's a deep trust implied between the Identity Porn subject and those who know their secret, which makes for strong emotional bonds, and a heavy emotional impact when someone changes category, and a deep unease if that change is unintentional. Identity Porn often involves a conflict of loyalties centered around the awareness of dual identity, setting up sitations where the secret can become a two-edged sword, with someone's trust betrayed whether it's concealed or revealed.
Outsider POV
One of my favourite tropes/devices is stories told from the viewpoint of someone outside the main conflict, and Identity Porn often makes a good setup for this. It can be used to highlight the difficulty of concealing an identity, by showing the cracks in the facade, or the emotional effort and sacrifice involved in presenting a perfect front. Generally the reader knows more than the POV character, so the different conclusions they draw can be used to great effect for characterisation: what a character misses, or assumes, or fails to consider when trying to pull off a lie indicates a lot about their personality and state of mind.
Consent Issues
Along with questions of identity come questions of consent. This one's kind of the flip side of trust kink plus the porny side of outsider POV: if the character concealing their identity becomes involved with someone who doesn't know the secret, there's a lot to explore with regard to consent on the part of the outsider. So much, in fact, that there's a tag for it with 434 fics. :D
Canon Recs for Identity Porn
So you want some canons that deliver on the Identity Porn front? :D
Captive Prince
A fantasy/erotica trilogy by C.S. Pacat, Captive Prince and sequels started out as an online M/M novel. The main character, Damianos, is the Crown Prince of Akielos whose throne is usurped by his half-brother, who sends Damianos into slavery... in service to Prince Laurent of Vere, whose brother Damen killed in combat. Laurent hates Akielons, and has a burning desire for revenge against the man who killed his brother, so Damen not only has to figure out how to escape slavery and retake his throne, he also has to keep the Veretians around him from recognizing who he truly is.
Nirvana in Fire
A Chinese fantasy drama series (which I've talked about before!) involving a complicated justice-and-revenge plot. On the basis of a forged letter, the Emperor believed that his son Prince Qi has betrayed him and convinced his army to stage a revolt. The entire army is slaughtered, labelled traitors to the country, and buried by history. But one of Prince Qi's subordinates survives, and is determined to clear the names of his comrades. He takes on another identity and becomes the advisor of a disfavoured Prince who was close to Prince Qi, whom he's determined to put on the throne.
Kuragehime | Princess Jellyfish
A manga, (and later anime) centered around a women-only boardinghouse where all the residents are unsocial, nerdy types. The main character, Tsukimi, is obsessed with jellyfish, and by accident becomes friends with a "stylish" girl when she helps Tsukimi save a jellyfish from a pet store... Except the stylish girl is actually Kuranosuke, the illegitimate son of a wealthy politician, who cross-dresses as as way to avoid being pushed into politics! Kura is strangely drawn to Tsukimi and her weird friends, but since their boardinghouse doesn't allow men, he has to keep up the pretence of being female in order to befriend them.
(The anime is really cute! But the manga is even better, if only because it has more time to develop the characters and introduce some really great side characters.)
Fic Recs for Identity Porn
How about some fic? :D
* the best imitation of myself, by seventhstar. (Fandom: Yuri!!! on Ice) Victor wants to attend a skating convention without being pestered by fans, so he cosplays himself as a disguise. Yuuri, one of the cosplay contest judges, dates Victor believing that he's just another fan, not the genuine article.
* The Blind Leading, by SkyisGray. (Fandom: Avengers/MCU/Captain America) AU where SHIELD sometimes hires the Winter Soldier as an independent contractor; Steve only knows the Soldier as an occasional ally when they begin an affair.
* gather it all in a bunch of heather, by margaret_rose. (Fandom: Scarborough Fair) Meeting one's true love requires some drastic steps... Such as becoming somebody else entirely.
* as to which may be the true, by susiecarter. (Fandom: DC Comics|Batman|Superman) Superman dies, returns to life, and starts sleeping with Bruce Wayne... and that last thing might be the weirdest. It definitely would be, if he knew Bruce Wayne was Batman, the man who nearly killed him.
* All That You Need to Say, by kitsunealyc. (Fandom: Nirvana in Fire) In order to save Mei Changsu's life, Jingyan is sent back in time. Somehow he'll have to get close enough to his target to earn his trust, without giving himself away as Mei's former friend or letting Mei know that Jingyan knows his secret.
Memory, by emilyenrose. (Fandom: MCU|Avengers|Captain America) The Winter Soldier doesn't regain his memories of being Bucky Barnes, Steve's best friend. Steve and James, the former Winter Soldier, are coworkers just starting to become acquaintances. After a mission goes sideways, Steve and Barnes sort through their reactions to decide: are James and Bucky the same person?
So there you have it, lots of rambling about Identity Porn. :D If you have recs for other canons or fics, or thoughts on what makes this trope satisfying, please comment with them!
no subject
Date: 2019-01-19 08:19 pm (UTC)I'm currently watching Secret of the Three Kingdoms and it's a great example of the trope overall, because it's about an emperor's secret twin brother who's been raised as a commoner, and all of a sudden has to begin impersonating his brother when he suddenly dies. And if his secret is revealed it will bring down the dynasty and result in a huge numbers of deaths, so it's incredibly tense.
Also, the cnovel Modao Zushi is another really good example - the main character transmigrates into someone else's body and has to conceal his true identity, because in his past life he was sort of public enemy number one. (The guy who's been in love with him since they were teenagers works out the truth pretty quickly, though!)
no subject
Date: 2019-01-19 08:41 pm (UTC)Secret of the Three Kingdoms sounds like a great Identity Porn setup, too! Reminds me of the bit in Man in the Iron Mask where Phillipe is impersonating Louis at the masquerade. :D Are you watching it online? (Is it free?)
Modao Zushi! I have heard a lot about this one way or another, and it's hovering around my "go and investigate" list. :D I was under the impression that it's not finished (or just that the translation isn't?) but if it's ever complete I'll probably be unable to resist.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-19 08:50 pm (UTC)I'm watching SotTK on Viki.
MDZS has basically been my main obsession for the last few months... The original novel in Chinese is finished, and the translation is up to chapter 106 of 113, so it'll be complete really soon! I actually recently made a pimp post about it too, if you're interested in knowing more.
no subject
Date: 2019-07-09 09:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-09 01:28 pm (UTC)Glad you enjoyed, and hopefully something in the recs will turn out to be useful for you!